Candy Time II
by G Marshall
Summary: I wrote the sequel to this interesting crossover mainly to tie up loose ends and reveal why it all happened. I did so much research: Writing down AT character traits while watching the show, taking pictures of the Candy Land PC game, and reading the Wikis. It also switches the encounter from the last version (ie: Candy Land's people seeing Ooo). No, there won't be a third one.
1. Reflection

Candy Time II

Adventure Time © Pendelton Ward & Cartoon Network

Candy Land © Hasbro

Chapter 1

One month later…

It was sunset, and Finn the Human was at his home Tree Fort, generally alone. This was a rare event, as usually he and Jake the Dog would be out together and go on dangerous if not thrilling adventures. Now, Finn was watching a Blu-Ray that his in-home companion BMO had burned for future reference. It showed one of Finn & Jake's strangest adventures yet: the trip to another Candy Kingdom that was not familiar to anyone at all, named "Candy Land". Weirder still, the entire country was inhabited by humans, something Finn had not seen since he was a baby. They showed no memory of the War, had their own villain, "Lord Licorice" and it turned out that the entire section of land that place was built on had been teleported centuries from AD 2013, their most recent time, to the present, 2930. Princess Bubblegum had helped in sending them back with her newly refurbished time travel device.

Even though he'd scanned the Blu-ray back and forth in hopes of finding clues, nothing came up. Questions rattled around in his head from that adventure:

"What happened to Me-Mow?" A 3-inch cat that was crushed in a tunnel below Candy Land, yet small enough to get out of the rubble.

"What did that Lord Licorice really want?" At that time, he bragged of being able to rule beyond Candy Land, and into the surrounding area of Ooo, but how did he know about Ooo in the first place?

"What was Candy Land's heyday like?" That was a personal question. With another Candy Kingdom like it, this was hard to answer. The entire area of Candy Land felt like a generally scaled-down version of Ooo itself, judging from what he saw.

And most importantly, "How did it get to Ooo in the first place?" Whatever sent them into the present could not have been an accident…could it?

Finally he stood up, stretched his arms, and ejected the disc out of BMO to put back in its case. Finn had never been so worked up about an adventure before. In the past, he and Jake always had fun with them; fighting crazy monsters, doing dangerous things for Princess Bubblegum, and/or saving peoples' lives. This one, Finn thought, was something that would keep him awake for a while if he didn't get answers soon. Recent adventures had kept it out of his head for a while up to this point, but not anymore.

Finn stepped towards the front door and left his home, out to have a little chat with PB.

Jake was already at the Candy Kingdom, though he was just minding his own business walking through the town square and exploring some of the places outside of the castle proper. Most of the candy people were happy to see him around, as usual for frequent visitors. But just as Jake finished complimenting Lollipop Girl's hair, he turned around just in time to see Finn speeding through the front gate and right into the castle.

He immediately noticed this and called out, "Yo Finn, what's the rush?!"

"I wanna talk to Peebles! It's important!" Finn yelled back.

So, out of curiosity, Jake immediately began running in after the kid. He followed Finn's trail and scent, up several stairs and left into a large, fancy tea room lined with dozens of pictures, and as if on cue, Princess Bubblegum was there on a rather lavish couch with a teacup in one hand and a book in the other.

Finn asked her, "Hello, Princess? I came to ask you about something."

She looked up from her tea and noticed the duo standing there, and she said, "Of course, Finn."

He sat down in an armchair close by and began, "Hey, remember that mission last month?"

"The one with that foreign 'Candy Land'? Yes, I do. Why?"

"Um…It's just that I feel like…we missed something important then."

"What do you mean? I sent them back to the year they came from and no further anomalies showed up on the grid since."

"What about Me-Mow?"

Jake caught on, "Hey, he's right! Wasn't she trapped in that tunnel I helped break to stop her? She's only 5 inches tall."

PB answered, "A cat that small should have been able to get out of there before I started the time travel device."

Finn hung his head in a sigh, "I guess I came to the wrong girl. Who else should I talk to?"

PB suggested with a grimace, "You could ask the Ice King, I suppose."

"Yeah, didn't you see how his princess junk paid off on that…Queen whats-her-face?" Jake nodded.

Finn stood up and turned towards the door, but before he left with Jake, Princess Bubblegum stopped him and explained, "Wait, I'll need to stay in touch later, so you'd better take this."

She handed Finn an amulet with a mini-hologram projector in the center, and once he strung its band around his neck, the Princess added, "Don't let Ice King see that. There's a camera on it, so I'll know whether it's safe to talk, okay?"

"Got it, Peebles," Finn nodded.

Then he and Jake backtracked the route out of the kingdom and made a sharp left turn, along with Jake scaling his body size to elephant proportions, and raced off to the Ice King's lair, passing their own Tree Fort on the path.

While the trip progressed, Finn spoke low into his friend's ear, "I just can't stop thinking about that…that 'Candy Land'. Something's up, I swear!"

"Finn, I'm sure _somebody_ knows about it; Ice King has to be one," Jake assured him.

Soon enough, the crystalline mountain came into view from the snow-covered landscape. Jake returned to normal size at the front door, and Finn, instead of bashing it down with his shoulder, simply knocked on the door and waited patiently – if not anxiously – for the Ice King to answer. In just a minute, that man opened the door and almost instantly reared back in fear, "Aah! What do you want?! Don't hurt me, I haven't caught anyone!"

"We're not here for that, I just want to talk," Finn restated his business.

"Oh, really? Well…" Ice King started sweating a little and turned his thumbs around some. Then he tried to smile and act more polite, "Uh, come on in, then."

The 3 causally ascended some stairs to the blue bearded man's home cavern, and Finn started the conversation, "Ice King, I don't know why, but that 'Candy Land' place has me all gummed up."

"What?"

"I have the strangest feeling that…we missed something that day."

Jake mistakenly added, "Um, he's trying to say, 'what was that place like to you'?"

"Well, it looked more organized than anywhere else in Ooo, and for once I met a girl who actually liked me!"

"I just…" Finn's voice turned to a stammer as he ran out of words to use at the time.

Then Gunter started quacking and pointing to the window.

"Quiet, Gunter!" Ice King yelled at him.

But the penguin kept yammering.

"What, Gunter? What is it?!" He finally stood up and shuffled towards the window. Finn and Jake followed and focused on just where Gunter was pointing. Past the Tree Fort, several miles southeast of the Candy Kingdom, and right in the middle of the Grass Lands, a huge bank of gray clouds overhead started swirling like a tornado, with reddish-pink lightning arcing out of the bottom and shooting right into the ground.

"Sweet ba-gloobles!" Jake's jaw dropped.

"What the blazes is that?" Ice King squinted to focus more on whatever that phenomenon was.

Then as the lightning grew more and more intense, it split apart into several beams and started to form something on the ground.

"Gosh darn, I can't see that far out!" The blue bearded cryopath grunted as he reached down and used a telescope he just now remembered was there. Zooming in closer on the scope, he now made out the shape of none other than Candy Land, again embedded in the Grass Lands with entire foundations seemingly ripped away from the foreign country's portion, like a huge island that once was floating in midair.

"Let me see!" Finn shooed Ice King away and took his turn. Looking at that place more closely, and judging it against the lightning storm, Finn made a startling discovery, "Holy stuff! It's back!"

Jake added, "And now we know that…thing was no accident."

Just then, the holo-amulet started beeping, and rather conveniently, Ice King was in another room. Finn pulled it out and touched the center, shooting up a small pink hologram of Princess Bubblegum's head. It spoke, "Finn, are you there? I've discovered something bizarre!"

"Yeah, we saw it!" Jake replied in hearing her voice.

"That foreign country we visited…it's back, and it practically fell out of the sky!" She explained.

Finn, only guessing at this point, concluded, "Some whacked-up junk is happening, and I want to find out what it is."

"Dude, I think you're WAY into this." Jake advised his companion.

Ice King considered the circumstances, compared it to Finn's statement, and said, "No, Jake, I think he's right."


	2. The Adventure Begins Anew

Chapter 2

The sudden impact of Candy Land crashing into a foreign meadow, now for the second time since Finn & company's visit, woke any sleeping inhabitant and caused heavy damage to a lot of the place's harder constructs; A few of the Gingerbread Plum Trees lost some branches and plums, Grandma Nutt's cottage roof suffered deep cracks and shingles flew off, a large number of candy cane and lollipop trees had collapsed and fallen, and worst of all, King Kandy's castle's lavish decorations – or perhaps toppings – had all but completely crumbled away and two side towers were on the brink of shattering.

Isolated to one corner of Candy Land, Lord Licorice watched from his distant palace to see just how bad the damage was. Then he chuckled evilly, "Yes, my spell was a success once more! And this time, no one can stop me or my little henchwoman!" When he opened his right hand, indeed, the tiny cat assassin Me-Mow was there. She shook her head a little, but didn't say anything.

Lord Licorice quietly left his domain, passing his molasses guardian, Gloppy, along the way. Seeing that night already fell, he figured that no one within half a mile would see him. The empty field surrounding his palace came to a broken edge about 9 yards away, and beyond that was Ooo. Lord Licorice glanced side to side for a target, adjusted his wide red & purple Cavalier hat, and finally he locked onto the "neighboring" Candy Kingdom.

However, as that villain left his homeland's boundary, King Kandy – who had been shaken awake in the landing, just managed to glimpse him escaping, through a window in his chamber. A sense of fear came over the nobleman, and right after putting on his royal, candy-coated robes, he rushed down the tower's stairs to alert several guards below, "It's happened again; sound the alarm! Lord Licorice has escaped!"

Almost at the same time, Finn, Jake, Ice King, Gunter, and Princess Bubblegum all managed to see Lord Licorice's thin silhouette running towards the Candy Kingdom's drawbridge. Far away, lights were going on in King Kandy's castle as well, along with the noise of a ringing bell.

Jake immediately leaped out of Ice King's window and changed into a hang glider for Finn to use. The banana guards aimed candy cane shotguns and jolly rancher bows and arrows over the CK's outer wall, ready to fire, but to everyone's surprise, Lord Licorice noticed all this activity and jumped into the moat, blending in with the dark areas the kingdom's lights couldn't hit. The guards' weapons all missed – and one of the arrows nearly hit Jake's glider form.

As Finn and Jake made it back to solid ground, Jake squinted one eye and asked, "Who was that?"

"I have a hunch, but I can't know for sure in this light."

"Who would take cover in a moat?"

"Probably a poo-brained guy…uh, no pun intended."

Ice King bore a confused expression and couldn't think of anything. He simply asked, "I didn't see whoever that was. Can anybody tell me what's going on?"

Then the trio heard the sound of something emerging from the moat's filthy water, and Jake managed to see Lord Licorice climbing the kingdom's wall, using his whip with a tiny candy cane as a grappling hook. Since the Banana Guards had retreated, it was no trouble for that man to reach the top and jump over the wall, into the kingdom with his rope in tow.

"That's…not good," Jake said slowly.

Not long after that, screams and shouts accompanied by lights going on came from the kingdom. This prompted an instinct in Finn, and he instantly started charging into that place, holding his sword over his head while screaming "Raaagh!" Finn pushed the main gates open with alarming strength, and Jack started running after him in both fear and eagerness.

Finn's eyes met a scene of Lord Licorice racing for PB's castle while the surrounding Candy people were running away in fear. That villain was snapping his whip every now and then to summon various candy-based weapons and weather formations on them. Jake could just barely hear him laughing sinisterly from far away.

Ice King, meanwhile, was keeping his eyes on Candy Land, whose bell was still ringing and activity was starting to grow out there. With the banana guards' searchlights still on, he noticed two small children – a boy and a girl – leaving that country's main entrance. They had blond hair and were dressed in red + white striped shirts and blue pants, the girl's in the form of a skirt.

He watched the pair run in quite a hurry towards PB's kingdom, right through the front gates. However, Ice King didn't know what to make of this scene. Instead, he sat down on a nearby tree stump and waited for a little bit.

Finn tapped the holo-amulet in hopes of contacting PB, but to his surprise, Peppermint Butler answered instead, "Yes, hello?"

"It's Finn, is PB okay?"

"Yes, she's fine, don't worry."

But his statement was soon contradicted by the sound of a beeping alarm, and judging from the background the scene appeared to be happening inside Princess Bubblegum's lab. The hologram then fizzled out as the Butler turned away.

As Finn turned around, he and Jake were immediately startled by the two children standing behind them. They, too were surprised with Finn and Jake's unusual appearance. (Note: this version is based on the fan art by **_roseandthorn_**_. _ art/Candy-Kids-168286701_ )_

Jake started, "Hey, who are you?"

The boy, speaking in a slight English accent, stuttered a bit, "Um…hello, King Kandy sent us to find Lord Licorice; have you seen him?"

Finn nodded, "Yeah, he went into that castle; we were going that way just now."

"Hmm, can you take us there? This place ain't too familiar to me or Sally here. My name's Peter," the boy said while looking around some.

"Sure, I'm Finn and this is Jake,"

It wasn't much trouble leading Sally & Peter into PB's castle. Actually finding the route to the lab was a bit more difficult, taking twists and turns along with 2 staircases. When they arrived, Lord Licorice was already there. Finn could see Princess Bubblegum trying to step backwards with a look of horror on her face, because LL seemed to be interrogating her like last time.

He couldn't tell what he was saying, but PB seemed to be resisting his demands. All of a sudden, he pulled a long strand of black licorice from somewhere in his cape, and tied PB's hands behind her back with it. That was clear enough to Finn: She was being taken prisoner by LL.

Finn and Jake both charged on him, but somehow or another, they were too slow. He escaped down another corridor and jumped out a window back into town, rappelling using that same grappling hook. Sally and Peter raced to the window out that other door, and looked down. The boy turned around and shook his head in shock, "Blimey, this is worse than all those other times before!"

"Really? What was it like before…that place fell out of the sky?" Jake's asked as eyes widened in interest.

Sally answered that question, "Before, Lord Licorice would hide King Kandy under his palace in dozens of different ways and try to take the throne for himself. But the two of us and a little gingerbread friend we know had the skills to stop him."

Peter added, "But this is something much worse. He's not trying to take over Candy Land anymore, he wants to conquer…what's this place called?"

"It's Ooo, and a lot bigger than that Candy Land," Peppermint Butler answered as he came up behind Finn and Jake.

"And how is it worse?" Finn scratched his head in confusion.

"Ever read about the American Colonies?" Sally asked.

"No…what's that?"

"To put it bluntly, people travel from one country to another and settle on new land. But in the process, they kill whoever's living there or put them to work for them. I have a sneaking suspicion that Lord Licorice wants to take this 'Ooo' of yours for himself, and that would _not be good_."

"If he's got Princess Bubblegum…oh no…" Finn started to sweat under his cap as he realized the outcome of all this.

"What do we do?" Jake asked in worry.

"We'll have to track Lord Licorice down and free that Princess before he finishes whatever he's doing," Peter announced.

"The hitch is: Peter and I don't know anything about this place," the girl sighed.

Peppermint Butler fetched a printed map from the lab and handed it to the twins.

Peter gave it a glance, then said, "Well, we'd better get moving, then."


	3. Candy Committee

Chapter 3

Meanwhile, back in Candy Land, King Kandy arranged a meeting with his other citizens at the castle. "As I'm sure you all know, Lord Licorice has been up to no good once again. Word hasn't come back from Peter or Sally as of yet, and this particular situation has become more dangerous than ever. Any proposals or questions?"

"They're brave kids; couldn't they handle this on their own? And what about that boy with the weird hat?" Jolly injected some straight info.

"They may be brave, but this particular event is more than they alone can handle," the monarch explained.

"Why has this entire country teleported back into the…the future?" Mr. Mint raised his hand as he inquired.

"Good question, Mr. Mint. As far as we know, the first time it seemed like just an unusual event. However, now that it's happened again, I have a feeling that it seems less like strange weather and more like the deliberate work of a person, and I have a good guess who it is." The King immediately got to the solution.

"But we can't be sure of that…can we?" Princess Lolly denied that statement in a hint of shyness.

"And we're only lucky that the twins were here this time," Plumpy added.

"True, nothing can be certain without proof. Therefore, I think some of us should head out to see what Lord Licorice is up to in that 'Ooo' which we landed in once again. Peter and Sally may have the knowledge, but no special traits like us. All nominees please raise your hands."

"I'm sure not going out there, that place looks scary," Mr. Mint said with fear in his voice.

"Me neither, I'm too old for adventures," Grandma Nutt agreed.

"And I've still got mining to do," Jolly pointed out.

Queen Frostine, Princess Lolly, and Plumpy were the only ones who raised their hands.

"Only my wife, daughter, and royal plum farmer? Very well; I say again, and this is for everyone to hear: This endeavor could possibly be more dangerous than Lord Licorice's past escapades. He doesn't want to depose me from the throne this time, he wants to conquer whatever lies beyond these fair grounds," the King announced as he stood from his throne, "And for those of you brave enough to help, know this: You are embarking on a journey that has never been taken before. Sally and Peter are no longer the players in this game, you are. Farewell, and good luck."

The 3 royal nominees nodded, and quietly left the castle's great hall.

Then the King sighed, "Meeting adjourned, the rest of you can go. I need…time to myself." And so the remaining citizens did, returning to work in their own sections of land.

In his mind, King Kandy felt uneasy about his wife, only daughter, and top farmer taking on this adventure. It was awfully surreal for someone like him, and the idea of those three failing to return constantly hung overhead. Above all, nothing like this had ever happened before in Candy Land. He knew Lord Licorice was a madman, and the one thing that kept the King going was the hope that once LL was captured and brought back, he'd get a serious punishment and stripping of that so-called "Sour Power". No more soft happy repeats, it was time for justice.

Ice King saw those 3 people leave the teleported country, and his eyes widened when he noticed the large dress of Queen Frostine among them. All of a sudden, they stopped in front of the kingdom's gates. Wondering why, Ice King peered through the space where a brick would be and spotted Finn, Jake, and the Twins running out of the castle and chasing Lord Licorice who happened to be rushing out of the kingdom proper.

Everyone watched as LL ran out the gate with PB still captured and screaming for help. Finn pursued him with sword raised and bearing a very angry expression, Jake riding on his back, and the twins trying to keep up, growing tired it seemed. However, all Ice King could tell was they were running north, out of the cotton candy forest between this area and the small spot of land Candy Land occupied, a mile from here.

But his mind was distracted by the possibility of again seeing the one woman who actually accepted his princess-envying ways. As he watched the "royal" trio follow that line of chasers in a slow, cautious manner, Ice King decided to tag along at the end.

Finn, the ambitious teen he was, tried as hard as he could to keep up with that red-clothed villain. According to the map in PB's lab he'd seen many times over his adventures, it seemed that Lord Licorice was hauling his captive east-southeast to Marshmallowy Mweadows. A wide open space, while visible within miles of anyone, but nonetheless a good confrontation spot.

Finn stopped running to catch his breath when they reached that area. Jake, having given Peter and Sally a piggyback ride up to here, let off his passengers and extended his right ear as close to LL as he could without getting his attention.

"Now that I have you…wherever this place is, I demand that you answer me this time: Are you or are you not this country's leader?" Jake heard him say.

Deciding that there was no holding back with a man this nuts and confused about how Ooo worked, PB replied, "No, I'm not the leader. It doesn't work that way."

"*sigh* Very well, so how _is_ this 'Ooo' handled? Once I take over it, everyone will have to listen to MY orders!" He declared in frustration. LL started leaning back and forth in impatience, waiting for what the true answer was.

PB tried to summarize Ooo's government as best she could, "Ooo is divided into several different kingdoms; Ice King and I rule two of them, though he has a knack for stealing princesses in thinking one would marry him."

LL muttered to himself, "This might be harder than I thought."

Jake retracted his ear and filled everyone in on the current situation. Good timing, too, because the villain finally took notice and started off running again, but not before tripping about twice before pulling PB by the arm towards his next hideout.

"Oh cram, it sounds like that ding-dong wants to take out all the other kingdoms in Ooo!" Jake voiced his concerns.

Peter figured, "Then we'll have to catch him before he does."

"That guy may be clumsy, but didn't you see how far he managed to run before tripping?" Finn pointed out.

Sally nodded, "He's gotten more careful over the past 20 years."

"Where's he going, though? I'm not exactly a navigator!" Peter threw his hands up in a shrug.

"PB would know a lot more, but I know where a lot of the general stuff is. Jake, what do you see?"

The malleable dog extended his eyes out like telescopes and locked onto LL again. Now he appeared to be using some kind of cotton candy cloud as a flying vehicle. Whether he hacked down a tree and altered it with his whip or made it from scratch, it wasn't clear, but whatever the case, he seemed to be floating in the direction of Wildberry Kingdom, due south of here.

Finn, realizing that that location was halfway across Ooo, pointed out, "We're gonna need transportation for this stuff."

Just as he said that, he turned around and noticed Ice King and the 3 nominated Candy Land people sent for backup, just now arriving. Ice King, having taken his chance half an hour ago, was now managing to woo Queen Frostine once again. Princess Lolly looked on in a mix of confusion and alarm, while Plumpy was simply disgusted.

Neither Finn nor Jake knew what to say about this. Ice King noticed that Finn was watching and explained, "Don't look at me, guys; I just followed these 3 people."

"Well, I'm glad you're here, actually," Peter took the chance to speak.

Finn added, "Yeah, we already know where Lord Licorice is headed, but it's good to have help."

Then as he turned back toward Jake, that dog had just morphed into a huge 6-seater open wagon car with legs. It seemed that he'd taken up Finn's transportation idea.

"Slama cow, Jake! Why didn't I think of that?" Finn said with surprise.


	4. Pursuit

Chapter 4

The living wagon car darted off in pursuit of the floating pink cloud, at about the speed of a galloping horse. Finn thought, _Jake, sometimes you amaze even me!_ The shape of the vehicle reminded Queen Frostine of that train that Lord Licorice blew up last time she saw these heroes.

At this point, Princess Lolly, the 12-year-old she was, asked her mother, "Why is Lord Licorice doing this? It's not like him."

"I agree, this is beyond what he was able to accomplish before." The queen nodded while tapping her index finger in thought.

Peter looked back at them and figured, "I'm just guessing 'ere, but to me it seems like he's not working alone this time. He must have had 'elp to come up with a scheme this big."

"What makes you think that?" Ice King asked, missing the context.

"I don't know yet, but we aim to find out, right?" Sally intended that question for the whole group. But all she got were some content nods.

Marshmallowy Mweadows gave way in the north to a cotton candy forest just outside of the Candy Kingdom. Plumpy glanced side to side at the surrounding trees, almost surprised to notice that these trees were foreign to him. Not quite so gingerbread-like compared to his own orchard, or even the other wooded areas in Candy Land. Jake gave him a funny look, confused as to why the strong green troll was surprised about this.

Ice King decided that now would be as good a time as any to talk to Queen Frostine once again. She caught him looking her direction and began with a blush, "Oh, hello again, my friend."

"Hey, queen! I…wanted to ask some questions about…that guy you're with," Ice King suddenly lost his excitement within his own words.

"Who?"

"You know, that king?"

"Oh yes, what do you want to know about my husband?" she quickly understood, with a hint of formality.

"Well…" He looked back and noticed that Sally was right next to him, with a suspicious look on her face. Ice King cleared his throat and continued, "The thing is, I haven't had anyone to love for…who knows how long, and you're the best one I've ever seen! So tell me, how long have you been with that _other_ king, and why?"

"You must know, aren't you called the 'Ice _King_'?"

Before the man could get another word out in response to that question, he spotted young Princess Lolly almost cowering before him and hugging her mother for protection. The situation was growing very awkward now; on the flip side, Finn found her kind of cute.

Then he cut everyone off when he pointed out a gap in the foliage leading to fresh air. The sun almost struck the whole crew in the eyes as the trees receded, and Jake decided to let everyone off and return to his normal form.

Before he could lead the 7-member team any further, he looked down and discovered that they were at the edge of a cliff. Everyone else stopped and stared at what was at the foot of that cliff: In the middle of a huge mass of green plant clusters was a massive bush standing vertically on an overgrown trunk like the eyestalk of an unseen snail or a giant green golf ball on a tee. Finn and Jake knew that this structure was in fact Wildberry Kingdom. It was hard to tell, very very hard, but the giant green "castle" was losing its leaves in several places and turning brown, even though it was far from autumn today.

Finn suddenly had the urge to charge, unsheathed his sword and jumped off the cliff onto the relatively soft shrubs below. Jake watched him run screaming into the building, so Jake had to follow for his protection. Just before descending, he informed the other teammates that it was safe to climb down as it wasn't too far a drop. Once they all made it to the bottom, the whole line carefully proceeded into the castle. Plumpy took a bit longer, eyeing several berries growing in the plants he and his party was walking over. Again he pondered over the difference between this world's plant life and his own crops. In that comparsion, Plumpy hoped that things weren't doing too badly over in Candy Land.

Whether or not Candy Land was faring well with almost half of its royale away on a mission, Princess Bubblegum's domain was worse. Unbeknownst to everyone there, Lord Licorice had planted a transfiguration spell meant to change PB's castle into a copy of the Licorice Palace, much like some of those times when Lord Licorice tried to do the same to King Kandy's castle – before he built it himself, that is. All of the white décor on the outside was starting to turn gray, the Guardians of the Royal Promise were changing from the feet up to resemble licorice versions of themselves; and most shocking of all, the giant blob of whipped cream sitting atop the central tree was melting away, leaving the tree itself with a very dead appearance. Even the interior was changing, and the whole citizenry started running away in fear.

Cinnamon Bun tripped and got stuck to the floor, so it took 5 people to pick him back up, the crazy old nick-pop. Peppermint Butler feared that Finn and Jake might be too late in their efforts to stop Lord Licorice. He could only hope that they'd catch that perpetrator soon enough.

The means to the castle proper was via a long spiral staircase running through the overgrown trunk. Several rooms could be seen containing huge supplies of meat, not surprising for people being plants themselves, at least according to Jake. Peter, Sally, Plumpy and Lolly didn't know what to make of it.

Just as they made it to the top, Finn was already bearing down on Lord Licorice himself with his sword. Me-Mow, just barely visible, was holding Wildberry Princess hostage with her signature needle of poison; Princess Bubblegum was nowhere to be seen. Finn yelled, "You'd better let that lady go, or you'll be sorry!"

But out of nowhere, the villain threw a handful of potent red hot candies in the boy's face, actually burning him in the eyes and cheeks. Being temporarily blinded, he didn't see LL run off with the fruity royal woman. Ice King saw this and shouted, "Come back here with my princess!"

"What?" Queen Frostine asked in a half-confused, half-angry way.

"Er, I mean _former_ princess," he tried to explain in a sweat.

Jake nodded, "Yeah, he captured Wildberry Princess a few times, but we always got her out."

In that brief conversation, LL had already rounded a corner into another room, so Ice King, Jake, the twins, and Plumpy followed. Queen Frostine used her magic scepter to help cool Finn off and heal the scars on his face made from searing cinnamon, and Princess Lolly helped him stand up.

"My glob, I didn't know candy can burn you!" he said in amazement while brushing off his shirt.

"Lord Licorice did worse. One time he made the sun red-hot and almost melted all my Lollipop plants!" Lolly brought up a bad memory.

Finn continued as they walked to catch up with the remaining party members, "He's that bad? Why?"

The Queen answered, "Oh, Lord Licorice has always done mischief around Candy Land in the past. He says it's 'fun', but…attacking other kingdoms by force isn't like him."

"What do you mean?"

"I…I can't explain, the King would know."

The trio leaned around an arching tree branch and saw LL holding Wildberry Princess by the chest, leaving all but one berry attached, the others shed out of fear. Jake and Plumpy had Me-Mow held down and her poison taken away. Queen Frostine gasped in shock, for what the villain was doing now looked like straight-up assault. No one in Candy Land ever had to face that.

Jake made an "OK" sign with his right paw and once again, Finn charged forward with sword in hand, only this time he made sure not to yell and get the bad guy's attention too soon. But Me-Mow bit his other paw and jumped onto Finn's face, without her poison. She latched onto his left hand and bit it as well, making him drop the sword from the leech-like sting of her bite. The sound of it hitting the floor got LL's attention, and, using his whip as a grappling rope once again, he rappelled out one of the windows, seemingly without Princess Bubblegum. Where could she have gone to?

Finn, with his right hand now free, grabbed Me-Mow and threw her out the window with a strength Jake didn't expect. He threw that way just to get her out of the room, but he had a gut feeling that she'd soon catch up with Lord Licorice one way or another.

Jake and Finn then turned their attention to the cherry-like Wildberry Princess shivering in fear on the grassy floor. The dog was the first to speak, and asked her, "What did that man do to you, Wildberry Princess?"

She whimpered and tried to explain in a high, timid and shy voice, "He…He asked me terrible things!"

"What things?" Finn asked as non-demanding as he could.

"About…who rules Ooo or something like that. I told him to go find the other princesses."

"What?!" Ice King tried to hold back anger when he heard that.

"Which Kingdom is near here?" Finn inquired quickly.

"I don't know, please don't hurt me!" the fruity princess begged.

"I think she's been asked enough, let's go!" Jake took charge.

Just before Finn left with his teammates, again he noticed how the foliage overhead was decaying at an unusually quick pace in different spots, almost like a skin infection. Something fishy was happening, but he couldn't pin down the cause just yet.


	5. Wild Lump Chase

Chapter 5

The 7 pursuers rushed quickly back down and out of the castle, but not long after running east down the canyon where LL was just visible as a black speck, Peter ran smack into a floating purple blob passing south, and fell over on his back. This was no regular blob either, Finn and Jake knew it well as Lumpy Space Princess, one of the less popular 'girls' around, but nonetheless a friend of theirs.

"Ow! Hey, watch where you're going!" she snapped at him in her usual bratty and man-like voice.

The English boy stood back up and stared at her for a bit. When he had nothing to say, LSP shrugged and said, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Finn diverted her attention, "Sorry, Lumpy Space Princess, we were just…"

"On our way to catch a bad guy! He's been trying to mess up all the other Kingdoms in Ooo! Did you see him?" Jake finished his sentence.

"*pfft* No, all I saw was some weird guy looking for the portal," she scoffed in half-denial.

"Um, we were looking for that portal, too. Can you take us there?"

"I dunno, these 'smoothies over here look pretty math to me."

Finn groaned, then grabbed her by the shoulders and held LSP in front of his face, "Listen you, if that guy's going where you say he's going, he could be out to destroy all of Lumpy Space!"

"Now are you going to take us there or what?" Jake demanded sternly.

"All right, all right! It's just down this way!" the purple blob nodded while holding her hands out for space.

Finn & Jake's team walked as quickly as possible towards where LSP was directing. She stopped in front of a toadstool, with a toad next to it, no surprise there. Lord Licorice was nowhere to be seen within half a mile of here, so this had to be the place. The toad saw the floating blob, jumped onto that fungus, and croaked, "Password, please!"

LSP yelled, "Whatever's 2009!" and in that moment, the toad nodded and said, "Password accepted." Then the princess ordered everyone else to hold hands and line up, because two seconds later, the toad opened its mouth, sucked the whole line in, and "ate" them. But the frog's mouth happened to be the portal LSP spoke of, and at the end of a trippy-looking vortex was the outer-dimensional world of Lumpy Space.

"Well, here we are," the floating royal blob introduced them to that world in a very bored tone.

"Blimey, I thought-" Sally almost got a sentence out before Jake shushed her due to respect. Then that dog warned his party, "We'd better be careful 'round here. If anyone here bites us, we're done for without the antidote!"

But Jake just ate his words, because two passing residents suddenly took notice of Princess Lolly's tiara and the mint-stripe design of Peter's scarf. Mistaking them as actual candy, the first chomped down onto Lolly's head in an attempt to take one of the lollipops. Instead, his teeth sank right into her scalp. The second aimed for Peter's neck and bit into it, vampire style. 'She' cried, "Ugh! That's not mint at all!"

"Oh, dang-bang!" Finn gasped as he saw what was happening.

"What's going on? I wasn't looking!" Ice King called for attention after turning around just now.

"Those two non-lumpers have the Lumps now, duh!" LSP sent the obvious into the crazed nobleman's head.

"Where's the antidote THIS time, LSP?" Finn demanded.

"Geezh, it's at my house! I'll get it if it means that flippin' much to you,"

Conveniently, a floating (and just as lumpy) car was right near this floating mass of land, but LSP drove off in it without Finn or his companions. The boy turned back around to see just how bad Princess Lolly and Peter were affected. The latter's neck was swelling up as if it was injected with venom, while the former was losing her legs and her waist growing embarrassingly lumpier, in addition to minor levitation. Finn could see how deeply Queen Frostine was shocked about this, being Lolly's mother, of course. Ice King wanted to open his mouth and talk with her some more, but he didn't, perhaps in respect. Odd, for someone like him.

Finn couldn't stop pondering about what was going on and why, but then, remembering at the last minute, he turned to the holo-pendant still around his neck. He pulled it out and tapped the surface once. In 3 anxious seconds, a pink 2D hologram fizzled into being, but to Finn's disappointment, no one was there. However, Princess Bubblegum's voice still came through in a staticky form, "Hello? Finn, is that you?"

"Yes, it is! Where are you?" He almost cried in excitement.

"According to my latest observation, we seem to be in the Desert of Doom, about 5 miles and closing for the Breakfast Kingdom."

Jake heard the voice and answered, "Really? 'Cause we just came all the way to Lumpy Space and two of our party are infected!"

PB tried to speak, but a hand probably belonging to Lord Licorice covered up the transmission and cut it off.

"Bam-Bam! Why does every conversation we have get interrupted at the last minute?!" Finn complained.

Ice King glanced towards Princess Lolly and noticed how she was turning seriously lumpy now. Plumpy and Sally almost threw up at Peter's awfully grotesque state as well. The two victims' limbs had all but vanished, and the hair reduced to a small speck on top. Their pain-filled groans sounded eerily unlike their own voices, and strangely to Jake, those two did not exhibit any snarky attitude, just simple pain and fear.

But fortunately, Lumpy Space Princess returned just in time with the silvery orb that could heal this "disease".

"Ugh, finally I got it!" She scoffed in her usual tone. "My parents wouldn't let me have it until I cleaned my lumpin' room! And they still won't forget the first time I brought you two smoothers to Makeout Point."

"What? How'd they know about us?" Finn's minor confusion surfaced.

LSP floated close to his ear and whispered, "They hate people from outside Lumpy Space."

"Oh yeah, that was a long time ago," The boy confirmed with a tilted nod.

Jake, being the brains and having survived just such a case of the Lumps before, decided he should handle the antidote. After a quick "oh yes-oh no" argument, he got the orb and carefully placed first underneath Peter, then Lolly. It was easier than Jake's own case because these two victims were in too much shock to think.

Then after the lumps receded from their skin, Sally gave her tall friend a quick hug, while Queen Frostine did the same for her daughter. This gave Ice King some food for thought – after all, he was witnessing the whole thing. Children had never crossed his mind before, so if marriage was all he ever wanted over the past several years, was inheriting kids something he would be expecting?

Princess Bubblegum's castle was now 88% changed to look like the Licorice Palace, and the surrounding citizens were both repulsed and frightened because the whole kingdom was barren and sticky with molasses. Wildberry Princess' castle was also in a horrible state of repair…so to speak. The whole bush was wilting and turning brown. The spell placed here was effectively killing the plant itself. Lumpy Space was apparently skipped because it was not directly connected to Ooo. But all of these terrible effects; if something wasn't done soon, Ooo would truly be in danger if these spells continued spreading outside the kingdoms. King Kandy, watching from his castle's top, hung his head in worry. He hoped that his 3 chosen members would be okay, especially concerning his only family being with them. But the King remained optimistic of their return, and if this worked out, he would throw a victory party and finally put Lord Licorice away for a long time, if not for good. He clasped his hands in prayer – if there was any god to pray to – and looked up towards the stars, hopeful of victory.


	6. Showdown

Chapter 6

The portal back to Ooo was in the same spot they arrived in, and now Finn's team really had to hurry. Lord Licorice couldn't be that smart to lead his adversary completely astray, so something was definitely out of place now. Thankfully, the starting bridge to the Desert of Doom was close by.

LL's flying cloud was nowhere in sight, so either he was on the ground now, or they were far out of sight. But mere minutes later, the reasons why this desert was so-named quickly rolled in. Just as Finn, Jake, and the Candy Land Five started racing onto the barren terrain, Dozens of pale zombies, "chuds" and bandits ran out of several caves scattered around the area, screaming in a bone-chilling fashion. They swarmed around the whole team; Finn quickly yanked out his sword and managed to clear off the 12 o'clock, but neither Peter nor Sally were armed and they were too scared to fight. Princess Lolly, not knowing what to do, simply shared their cowardice, crouched down and tried to shield herself with a large all-day-sucker.

Ice King simply fought the enemies off in self-defense with his power of snow and ice – and Gunter was quacking up a storm the whole time! Plumpy, showing off his muscular strength, grabbed a passing reptilian thief carrying a garbage bag, and threw him clear over a large dune some distance off.

Jake spotted a clearing away from the monsters and bandits, and he gave an order to retreat there. Those freaks of nature were growing in numbers, so no one disagreed. After he pushed a heavy rock into the space they came through as a barricade, the party huddled around to rest in that area, apparently a campfire shaded by several huge boulders, one of which supported a sailboat overhead.

"Now what do we do? We can't go any further with those…things out there!" Peter cried.

"We'll think of something, Lord Licorice can't be too far away," Finn replied in a cheery mood.

But out of nowhere, Finn just spoke of the devil, for somewhere overhead came a familiar sinister voice, "No, in fact he's right in front of you!" And out of the suspended boat jumped Lord Licorice himself, even more evil than before, it seemed. His face was disturbingly green in contrast to his red, purple and black clothing. Even his neat Captain Hook-style hair was looking a little scraggly now. LL's overall figure sent chills down everyone's spine.

Finn used his short temper and yelled, "Where's Princess Bubblegum?!"

"She's up there, and I won't bring her down without a fight!" He sneered.

Peter jumped in, "Come on, what's your motive 'ere?"

Jake added, "Yeah! We've been led on a wild goose chase this whole time and nothing's made sense!"

At that very moment, LL started laughing in a maniacal way very much like what you'd expect an evil supervillain, then he cleared his throat and declared, "Simply to dominate this entire country, of course! Altering as many kingdoms as possible to overthrow their rulers was a brilliant plan of mine, and now all that's left is to get rid of you…candy meddlers!"

"I'd like to see you try, you son of a bleeb-blob!" Jake snarled.

"Oh, really? Then say hello to a familiar face, Jacob!" LL smiled as he opened his right hand. Me-Mow instantly jumped out and flew towards Jake, claws raised. But he was prepared. The malleable dog changed his right paw into a baseball bat and swatted the tiny cat away, but accidentally into Ice King's face. Jake couldn't help but laugh as he did so.

"Clever, but that was only a taste. Let's see what you all have against my superior Sour Power!" Lord Licorice shouted as he spread out his arms as if to ready himself for a duel.

"You're on, bring it!" Finn snapped back. He made the first move and charged in rather blindly with his sword raised high overhead. The boy aimed for his whip, but LL pushed him to the ground with just one hand; alarming, so it seemed.

Then the villain summoned a giant sour "_Warhead_™" which exploded in a blinding flash of citrus and light. It was so bright it almost seemed like a real nuclear bomb, but candy would obviously not be able to emit radiation…unless it was for superpowers.

Jake asked Sally to bring him up to one of the boulders, and once there, he sling-shot himself using the space between two boulders, right at the enemy's Cavalier hat and knocked it straight off – to add humor to combat, of course. Lord Licorice was indeed shocked to lose it, but that only added to his anger. He clapped his hands together once, and created what seemed to be a cotton candy dust devil; then he threw it in Jake's direction and too soon it started moving around the battlefield, a little too close to Finn. But thankfully it vanished within 10 seconds, leaving only a very dizzy Jake.

Ice King managed to pry off the feline assassin before she could bite his long pointed nose. In frustration, he instantly froze the cat's legs and dropped her, Gunter catching the creature to make sure she didn't crack open from the cold.

Then Lord Licorice prepared another candy-based attack, this time with a huge explosive "cherry bomb", using its stem as the fuse.

Ice King noticed how Princess Lolly was standing her ground firmly alongside her mother, being 12 years old, not two. Finn felt happy to see her doing this as well. Then Ice King finally looked at Queen Frostine once more, and this time he had a sudden burst of courage ready and he said, "My queen, if you really love me, we should work together!"

"You're right, let's end this once and for all!" She nodded with determination.

Ice King turned towards the red + black villain and yelled, "Hey, Lord Lightbulb! We're ice and you're glue, anything you throw at me I can freeze and throw straight back to you!"

"Where did Ice King, of all people get that kind of bravery AND puns?" Finn asked Jake while scratching his head.

Jake figured, "Maybe because he likes that woman in blue so much."

"It's still poo brain for a guy that tries to kidnap princesses."

"INCOMING!" Sally wailed as that explosive cherry flew spinning through the air right at Finn and Jake. But Queen Frostine and the King in question both intercepted it with their freezing powers, just as it was about to explode. Together, they pretty much turned it into a regular frozen cherry.

LL ceased fire to say, "You all are very formidable opponents, but you haven't defeated me yet!" Then he proceeded to mock the team, "Those attacks are so futile! I expected to see some hand-to-hand combat! Honestly, you call this a battle?"

"What?" Queen Frostine couldn't hold back that reaction. "You must be insane! Candy Land and all the countries around it are peaceful! How could you think of such harshness?"

LL had nothing to say, for Plumpy started flexing his muscles and growled, "If it's hand-to-hand combat you want, you got it, RIGHT HERE!" (*Inspired by Phil from _Hercules_) The green troll then charged straight at his enemy and started clobbering him like an animal, or maybe even a cartoon animal, for the dust cloud he was stirring up was mixed with loud bangs and whacks. A thunderous body slam finished it off. When it cleared, Lord Licorice was now lying flat on his back, a bruise on the left eye, his long mustache frazzled and his hair even more of a mess, his clothes battered, and overall it seemed clear that now this man was finally defeated.

The 4 other Candy Landers applauded him for that sudden burst of strength and anger. Then the whole party moved closer to look at LL. Jake, remembering what he said at the beginning, stretched up to the derelict sailboat sitting on a giant stone slab. At first glance, there didn't seem to be anyone there. But as he felt around inside the cabin, Jake soon came upon PB's body. It seemed to be invisible, but then he started rubbing and discovered that she was coated in some sort of cloaking powder.


	7. Man Behind the Man

Chapter 7

Jake then brought her back down safely, but before PB could do anything, Finn quickly grasped her in a tight hug. Then, flying out of the sky, another guest joined the party: Marceline, the Vampire Queen!

The Candy Landers were shocked to see her, but Finn just smiled and said, "Hi, Marcy! What's up?"

She chuckled, "I know everything about this situation; BMO helped me out."

"Say what?"

"Did you ever check your clothes for a tiny camera?"

Jake looked at Finn's shoulder and said, "Oh yeah, I forgot to ask him to take that thing off."

"Good thing you didn't, it's still recording," The vampiress pointed out humorously.

Jake did some thinking, then sprouted a mental light bulb, "Then…Hey, could you take care of that man on the ground for us? I think his outfit could use a little less…red, don't you think?"

"I thought it needed less black," Peter interrupted. But Jake shushed him.

Marceline stood over the very weakened Lord Licorice, and licked her lips just like a predator would. None of the Candy Landers knew what to make of it, so they just remained still and watched. She bit into one of the red licorice strands of his outfit – tasting some concentrated strawberry flavor; and began sucking the red straight out of it and the rest of his Renaissance clothing.

However, when Marceline finished off the upper half, something else came up that caused her to choke, gag for a second, then spit several times. "Ptew! That sure didn't taste like licorice!"

Princess Bubblegum gasped in horror, for what Marceline spit up was something far more disgusting than licorice.

A dark green cloud swirled at about the height of the boat, and quickly formed into a monstrous creature: a zombified wizard bearing a horned helmet, hideous exposed teeth, long black hair with a crown; and a tattered, flowing white robe. "That's the Lich! He's returned!" The pink princess screamed.

Lord Licorice managed to stand up, moaning a little from the blows he took. He muttered, "What happened? Where am I?" His voice seemed to take on a slightly different accent. Now it seemed to sound a bit more nasally, and lighter, not so menacing than before. Even his clothes were back to normal with a brighter shade to them. It almost seemed as if he was a…an innocent pawn of this Lich.

That evil wizard laughed, "Yes, it was me all along! Once I dethrone all the kingdoms, Ooo will be no more, and all the world shall feel my wrath!"

"So…it wasn't Lord Licorice behind all this?" Finn turned to Queen Frostine who stood immediately to his left.

"Like I said, I cannot be certain, but all these terrible things he did, everyone in my domain knows that Lord Licorice would never do such evil deeds," she nodded.

Sally added, "As far as we know, he only likes to be mischievous and play little pranks on us from time to time. Make the game harder, if you will."

"So how do we reverse those spells? And get rid of that…THING?" Jake asked with fear in his voice.

The Lich hovered in the sky over the entire party, poised to attack with lethal force. While he wasn't attacking now, PB knew that he was plotting something. Billy's Gauntlet was destroyed earlier, and the special sweater was not being worn by anyone, so those defensive items were out. The Well of Power was obviously very distant from this location, so at least the Lich was vulnerable to a degree. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Finn was tired of this chase, so if the Lich was to be taken down, it had to be here and now. It was then that he noticed that the Lich was reading his mind, judging from the direction of his eyes. Something had to be done fast, but what? Jake noticed how the zombie wizard's hands were starting to create fire. There wasn't much time left.

But then he remembered how each time, this creature was defeated by the last person he'd expect, so he covered his eyes briefly and ran towards Lord Licorice. He asked in a low voice so the Lich couldn't hear him, "Excuse me, um…my Lord?" Finn tried his best to be polite at this moment.

"Yes, young man?" He answered with a tone of fear in his voice, probably due to the monster in the sky.

"We need to get rid of that thing in the sky, so maybe that Sour Power you got, and a bottle could help?"

"What do you mean? I don't know anything about what this creature can do."

"He wants all life to die, so maybe one of those things up your sleeve could trick him, somehow? Please, it's our only chance!" Princess Bubblegum added when hearing Finn's voice.

After quickly glancing side to side and pondering for a second, LL took a 5-minute stare at the Lich and figured out a new plot. All this time he'd been that monster's puppet, so why not convince it further? The man nodded and said, "Oh, I have a better plan than that!

"What the junk is Finn doing? Of all people, why would he go to THAT guy for help?" Jake groaned.

"I don't know, maybe the magic he has really could stop that monster. It's worth a shot," Plumpy figured while scratching his chin.

The red and black sorcerer called, "O, Master!" and true to his word, the Lich turned towards him and lowered his burning fists. Then LL continued, "I will do anything you wish; obey your every commands!"

"I have only one wish: TO DESTROY ALL LIFE! But I am in need of more power to do it!" The grotesque wizard roared.

Then LL pulled an empty bottle off his belt, and said, "This bottle contains a clear potion that grants the drinker the strength of a planet, the wisdom of all existence, and the power of 10 suns!'

"Give it here, my slave!" That monster screamed as he soared like smoke down towards the bottle in Lord Licorice's hands. He snatched it up, opened the cap, but didn't expect what happened next. Instead of a liquid, when the Lich put the bottle to his mouth, an immensely strong vacuum sucked the entire being into it like a genie to a lamp. Once the phantom wizard was entirely inside the tiny flask, Lord Licorice picked it up and capped it quickly to make sure he didn't escape.

"Holy stuff!" Finn gaped as he stepped back

The villain chuckled, "I haven't used this little doodad in years; It's a simple 'vacuum' flask! Get it? I once used it years ago to suck all the shingles off of Grandma Nutt's roof! Ha ha ha! Boy, was that fun."

Then PB took the bottle off his hands for safekeeping, and said, "Thank you, but something's still missing. What motivated the Lich to do this elaborate scheme?"

"Yes, we all want to know!" Queen Frostine agreed.

LL replied while holding his hands up, "I honestly have no clue!"

But then something fell off his belt and landed in the dirt. As he, PB, and Finn looked at it, the strange object turned out to be a thick leather-bound notebook.

The princess picked it up, saying, "Well, what do we have here?"


	8. It's All There in the Manual

Chapter 8

She released the cover's clip and slowly opened the book. The first page was blank, but the following ones were filled with spells, dozens of schematics and maps of Ooo and its kingdoms, as well as Candy Land, a message for Me-Mow discussing recruitment by an anonymous person, and even around the middle were directions for a time travel spell. Somehow he'd stolen these papers and plans and hidden them all in this book. All of the Lich's diabolical schemes were right here, it all made sense!

The entire scheme was a multi-phase plan; PB was describing it all aloud, for everyone else to hear: Phase 1 detailed the time travel spell to find someone outside of Ooo so no one would be able to detect him; Phase 2, bring that person to the present and use the victim as a disguise and recruit Me-Mow for backup; Phase 3, dethrone and place transfiguration and life-killing spells on every kingdom in Ooo, starting with the Candy Kingdom. Phase 4, in all capital letters, "DESTROY OOO!" Before Princess Bubblegum could worry, she discovered that near the back were counter-curses to reverse all of the Lich's work in case of failure. While she didn't know anything about counter-curses, she knew of a wizard still in the Candy Kingdom today that did. Not the mean magic man, not the ice king because his powers were limited, but someone else.

She still worried that things would be too late, however. Then PB stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled hard. Only she knew that a sound like that would summon her royal steed. And indeed, in 10 seconds time, the snake-like figure of Lady Rainicorn appeared in the sky, darting fast for the campsite the whole team was still at. As she landed, the princess mounted and called, "Come on, this isn't over yet! We need to fix those curses or all the kingdoms are doomed! Get on!"

While Finn and Jake followed immediately, the twins and 3 Candy Land members hesitated for a moment. Lord Licorice was almost dazzled at Lady Rainicorn's sight. But they all mounted in a few seconds, then with a kick to the side, they were off to the Candy Kingdom first.

Princess Bubblegum was almost ready to hurl when she saw that the transfiguration spell was now complete on her castle. Everything was coated in red and black licorice, lined with bitter dark chocolate and molasses. Even the city around it was affected, and the people who lived there were hiding outside the gates. But PB still had that pair of binoculars on her from last time, and she spotted the pear-headed Abracadaniel below among them.

LL took a quick look at the castle and felt ashamed for its current state, even though it was the Lich's doing, not his. They landed only briefly to pick up the pear-headed wizard, and the princess quickly asked him if he knew how to use the counter-curses listed in the notebook, and he did. A few waves of the hands, saying the phrases out loud, and intense focus restored the princess' castle to its former glory, town and all. While there, she took the still-frozen Me-Mow and handed her over to the banana guards to arrest her properly. She was just weighing everyone else down.

Then they glided towards Wildberry Princess' castle, which was now no more than a single trunk with curled, dead branches. The interior items were exposed, and the princess was lying in fear on the ground; it somehow saddened Ice King. Abracadaniel again channeled his powers into repairing that castle, and effectively re-grew the entire structure.

Finally, Lady Rainicorn brought the party back to the Grass Lands, fairly close to Candy Land. When Finn and Jake climbed off, the former sat down on the grass and sighed, "Phew, that was fun! And man, am I thirsty!"

"Yeah, after all that, I think we deserve a reward!" Jake chimed in.

All of a sudden, a loud trumpet sounded off from the west, seemingly from Candy Land.

"Oi, what could that be for?" Peter queried as his eyebrows lifted.

"Let's go check it out!" Jake answered.

"I'll be right back, I think they might want some company," Princess Bubblegum smiled as she saddled Lady Rainicorn once again.


	9. Proper Greetings

Chapter 9

After the arching horse took off again, the Candy Land 5 started walking towards their home country in a steady pace. Ice King took the time to speak with the Queen one more time, "Hey, did I ever tell you how much you remind me of…myself?"

"What?" She simply asked in slightly heated confusion.

"I mean, the woman version of me. I wrote a story about Finn, Jake, and this entire country with everyone…um, as their opposite genders. You remind me very much of my 'Ice Queen'," he explained.

"Well, I'd have to read that sometime, then. This country is still very new to me and my friends," the queen smirked.

Finn caught himself with a dropped jaw, as he noticed that the two of them were holding hands now! Even Princess Lolly was shocked a bit. Then they looked at each other and Finn suddenly felt embarrassed; He promised to talk with her a little later.

When they arrived at the main gates, a huge banner was strung between two tall metal spires reading "Celebration for the Victors!" Fireworks were being shot off in the sky, and a fanfare playing from the castle walls. King Kandy and his royal citizens were there, along with several of his servants cheering for the members' return, along with the twins'. Lord Licorice entered behind the 5, trying to maintain a cheery mood as well.

As Finn turned around just before he entered the foreign chunk of earth, Lady Rainicorn swooped in with several other citizens from the Candy Kingdom, among those being, Peppermint Butler, Cinnamon Bun, Tree Trunks and Abracadaniel.

The King opened his arms and declared, "Welcome back, I am very pleased to see you all back after that dangerous adventure. And I see that the culprit is with you, well done!"

Finn noticed that the nobleman was addressing not only his citizens, but him as well. As he continued walking, King Kandy further added to his speech, "Don't be shy! Come join us in our celebratory party!"

A classic medieval ballroom dance took place in the castle within 20 minutes time, but some of the visitors wanted to look around Candy Land itself, first. Tree Trunks started at Grandma Nutt's cottage, guided by Jake.

"Why, hello there, what's your name?" the house's owner began, noticing the small aged elephant.

"You can call me Tree Trunks, if you want to," she blushed.

Jake added, "She's a friend of ours, and makes a mean apple pie!"

"An apple pie? My, those are hard to get these days!" Ms. Nutt noticed while scratching an itch on her head for a second.

"Do you wanna try one?" Tree Trunks asked as she reached into a picnic basket balanced on her back with her trunk. She pulled out a small pie and handed it to the sweet old woman, who took a quick bite and said, "Wow, this is delicious!"

Tree Trunks said as she looked about some, "Thank you. Say, what do you make?"

"Oh, I collect peanuts and make them into certain things, peanut butter, peanut toppings, but I have a passion for peanut _brittle_."

"May I try some? I don't know how to make that," the pigmy elephant asked with hope.

"Me neither," Jake added.

"Hold on a second," Grandma Nutt answered before vanishing briefly into her house. After a few seconds, she returned with a basket full of small wedges of peanut brittle. The two guests gladly took one and tasted them. From their reactions, it seemed that this confection was just as good as Tree Trunks' pies.

After the small old lady finished hers, she said, "My, wouldn't it be nice if we worked together? A peanut-apple pie?"

"Goody, that _would_ be a great idea!" Grandma Nutt agreed with a smile.

Jake turned around and saw something bad approaching. He barked, "Uh oh, runaway bun at 6 o'clock!"

From Jake's description, it was indeed Cinnamon Bun on the loose. He arrived too quickly for anyone to hide, and the crazy tart opened his sticky mouth and simply said, "Hi!" in an awful-sounding voice, like his last visit. Grandma Nutt just blushed and backed away towards her house. "Um, shouldn't we be at the party right now?" she turned to Jake.

"Yeah, we should!" Jake agreed slowly while sweat dribbled down his neck.

Peppermint Butler was out on his own, as he wanted to talk with Mr. Mint about the things he wanted to say on the first visit here, but never got the chance. As he arrived, the little man noticed how Mr. Mint was chopping a huge candy cane with a similar-colored ax. But having achieved little progress, he set down the tool and turned towards the visitor.

"Why hello there, I don't see many visitors around here!" Mr. Mint greeted him with a tip of his hat.

"That's a shame, Do you have a minute to talk?" PB asked politely.

"Of course," the lumberjack nodded while sitting down on a clean stump.

"I'm called Peppermint Butler in Ooo; and I am Princess Bubblegum's best servant. I figured you might be interested in knowing more about the place that I hail from and how it is similar to this place,"

"You're right, I am interested. But why tell me? The king would certainly like to know as well. In fact, I think we might be missing the party now!"

"Then why are you here, Mr…"

"Mint, sir. I came by here an hour ago to do some last-minute work before I joined the festivities, but," Mr. Mint stood up as he grabbed his ax again, "This…last…one…should…do it!" he shouted between chops. The giant cane then fell over in a splintering crash, then he put away the tool and said, "Let's go, we can talk more on the way!"

"Sure!"

Back in the ballroom, now all the citizens were present to dance. Finn took his side with Princess Bubblegum just for the heck of it, the minor citizens just danced like they knew how, and PB's people partied like they did before, back at the castle they knew. King Kandy couldn't help but smile as he watched this action. Parties, or more accurately, balls like this were nearly rare in Candy Land's regular life.

Ice King decided it was time to straighten things out and talk his issues over with that King. He walked up to the nobleman and said, "Hey, King Conga. Can I talk to you about…your wife?"

"Um…" he hesitated for a moment, "Yes, what do you want to know?"

"The thing is, I've been without a wife for 1000 years!" Ice King explained.

Jake joined from the side and added, "He's not kidding, we know about the guy's past. He survived a deadly bomb!"

"To tell you the truth, no lady in Ooo ever likes me. As much as I've wooed them, they're all either scared or don't like me at all. But your Queen, oh, she liked me at first sight! It was just too good to be true!" Ice King explained, again in more smarts than his personality showed.

"Did you really?" the King faced his wife in interest.

"It's true, my dear. I'd never seen someone so much like my frosty self before!" Queen Frostine pointed out.

Princess Lolly, standing close by, now looked a little afraid of the Ice King.

"Goodness, this _is_ quite a predicament, isn't it?" King Kandy nodded before thinking for a moment. "Well, sir, would you like to know the story of how we met? Far back when our fair land was first established?"

"Hmm, sure, why not?" Ice King shrugged.

The King disappeared through a door near his throne; then Ice King and the Queen sat down on a bench placed against the wall, smiling together. Jake felt like saying "Hubba hubba!" before turning to the snack table where Finn was already gorging himself. Peppermint Butler continued filling Mr. Mint in on what the Candy Kingdom was about, and Tree Trunks + Grandma Nutt tried another piece of each other's treats.

Princess Lolly finally got the chance to talk with Finn, and she started, "Say, what's your name? I didn't know."

"It's Finn, and did I mention that you look really cute?" He asked while scratching his head laughing.

"Why thank you, Finn," she blushed. "Do you want to dance with me?"

"Uh…sorry, but I already picked someone, Princess Bubblegum."

"All right, I understand," Lolly sighed in disappointment.

Jake hadn't given it much thought, but he shared something from a past mission with Queen Frostine, "You know, Ice Cream's my favorite food in the whole world. A while back, Finn and I found this whacked-out pod that created that chilly stuff outta nothing!"

"Well, I certainly can do that myself! I created the entire Ice Cream Sea from scratch, in fact the King decreed when we founded this place that everyone had free reign to their own land," she bragged.

Then King Kandy returned with a thick, heavy-looking book under his right arm, and set it down on a table close to the throne. Finn, Jake, Ice King, PB (who took notice), and the 2 other members of the candy royale gathered around to see.


	10. Ancient History

Chapter 10

The King narrated, "In the year 1940 AD, this country was once owned by an unknown king who ruled an uncharted island on Earth, about the size of Jamaica. In 9 years, his wife gave birth to 5 sons, who then each would claim a piece of the island for themselves later in the future. The King pledged that each one would be dedicated to a different fantasy form for children to entertain themselves in.

"One of these sons later became King Kandy. At the age of 21, this particular son was granted the use of candy magic to help found a portion of this island, starting with a castle in the center, and the prince henceforth dubbed his land, "Candy Land", but for a few more years he was lonely and the sun started to become a problem. Then, one day while he was surveying the southeast quarter and looked out at its wide lagoon, a group of people and two strange creatures appeared in a boat, sailing from the east to indulge in Candy Land's delights.

"The prince welcomed them in, and they helped refurbish each area of it on the prince's request, seeing how sad he had been up until that point. One particularly beautiful woman caught the prince's attention more than the others, for it was love that quickly claimed his heart. The engagement went well, and soon they married and she inherited the candy magic he held. These two came to be known as King Kandy and Queen Frostine, for he saw a captivating frosty blueness in her eyes when they met. She used her artistic creativity to design her own piece of land by the lagoon, and create the Ice Cream Sea. By 1980, they gave birth to a daughter who later became Princess Lolly, also inheriting a portion of the King's magic.

"One of the travelers who arrived that day did not share the same enthusiasm in candy royalty. While at the time he kept that dislike hidden, the prince granting him candy magic to serve as an advisor was a mistake. This man was Lord Licorice, and just one week later, he attempted to overthrow King Kandy using his own sour magic. It was a success, and the King was locked up below the castle in the old dungeons. But then two children also arrived by boat, brought by a gingerbread messenger. They had the knowledge to outsmart the evil villain, evade his traps, and save the King. Lord Licorice then built his own palace as a base for the next time he would strike. That's how the story goes, and Candy Land still thrives to this day, receiving new members who want to contribute and expand the area from time to time."

"New members? You mean, there are more?" Jake spoke up.

"Yes, well, I think according to our cartographers, only the innermost portion of Candy Land is the portion that was sent here. There are more members on the outer fringes, back on the island, like Grandma Gooey, the Duke of Swirl, Mama Gingersnap who is Plumpy's mother, and Jolly's brother. I am sure that they are wondering where we ended up and miss us dearly," he explained.

Ice King, taking the opportunity to keep his attention focused, tried to process everything that had been said, and finally he sighed, "I don't know much about royalty, but I think your queen is better off here than with me, as much as it kills me to say it!"

"Really? Are you sure you mean that, Ice King?" Finn inquired.

"I didn't know you cared that much!" Jake added a little offensively.

"Yeah, I'd be better off finding someone in Ooo." The blue king nodded.

"He does have a point, remember: This Candy Land isn't part of our timeline," Princess Bubblegum informed Finn and Jake.

"So the only thing left to do would be to use that time travel spell again, right?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, but let's wait a little while, just for another hour. I kinda like this party," Finn pointed out.

"Feel free to stay as long as you like," King Kandy smiled as he sat down on his throne.

Queen Frostine moved closer to Ice King, hugged him and said, "You're the sweetest king I've ever met besides my husband. I've never known anyone else who can control the power of ice just as well as me." Then she suddenly kissed him on the cheek, getting some low jaws from Finn, Jake and PB. Queen Frostine released her grip and continued, "I wish royal blood did not have to stand between us, but trust me when I say that you'll find someone out there just like me sooner or later. Just give it time, my friend."

"Thanks, that…means a lot-" Ice King almost replied before Gunter interrupted yet again.

"I still think that duck- sorry, _penguin_ of yours is really cute!" the queen smiled while stroking Gunter on the head.

"Hey, what are we waiting for?" Finn butted in. "It's time to GET DOWN!" he shouted while his auto-tuned singing voice kicked in.


	11. Conclusion

Chapter 11

The party continued wildly for an hour and a half till sunset came, then it was time for justice and amends to be done. Even though Lord Licorice was innocent and meant no real harm, and got his chance to dance – rather badly, at that – he was still arrested and put behind metal bars in the castle's dungeon. King Kandy made sure to confiscate all his magic weapons and items that used Sour Power so another catastrophe would not happen for a while. He promised to hand them back in two months, of course.

Princess Bubblegum escorted her subjects out of Candy Land and back to her own castle, and checked the King's castle to find that her old time travel device was broken, so its single use time was already spent. She then took out those remains and buried them quickly in the nearby grass lands. Finally, she opened the Lich's notebook and tore out the page for the time travel spell. As Finn and Jake said their goodbyes to the 7 citizens, Peter and Sally, Abracadaniel read the time travel spell aloud. Shafts of rainbow-colored light spewed from the edges of Candy Land's broken terrain and swirled into a vortex in the sky as he chanted those words. As the light grew familiarly bright again, like when the device was previously used, Finn noticed that everyone was waving goodbye. It almost seemed as if they wanted to break into song, which brought a tear of joy to his eye. Then the chunk of land vanished in a blinding flash, teleporting back to the small island in 2013. Candy Land's newer members greeted them with a round of cheers and applause, happy to have their king and core members back again. King Kandy too was pleased to see them. Queen Frostine would never forget the Ice King, but his love for her was never enough to sway her from King Kandy.

Princess Bubblegum remembered to burn the time travel spell page when she returned to her lab. Time travel itself was not to be in the hands of villains, so that spell was better off destroyed. Marceline, who was absent from the ball, played a small song on her ax-bass before and when Finn and Jake returned home. Then she left, and Jake removed the small camera in Finn's shirt. BMO, like before, copied the entire long video to Blu-Ray disc. Finn took it out of her slot and placed it alongside the first one. They were both in need of titles, so he thought of something clever and wrote "Candy Time part 1" and "part 2" on them with a marker. Maybe he and his buddies could watch them on Christmas along with Simon Petrikov's video diary.

Then after a quick shower and dental procedures, he and Jake retired to their upstairs bedrooms. As he lay down on his fur-lined bed, Finn felt that this adventure was now finally complete. Everything was resolved, and now he could move on with whatever adventures were ahead in the future. As always, an adventurer like him was ready for anything. A fun and quirky adventure that literally fell out of the sky with a new country, humans and all, was the best one Finn had ever experienced, but he thought that sooner or later, there'd be one even better than that coming soon. He just knew it.

**THE END!**


End file.
